Monaco vs Lens — Tips & Analysis

Lens +0.5: Lens have been the better team this season, and their recent run says it louder than the table does. They have won 10 of their last 17 games and let in just over a goal a game. On the road they have won 3, tied 3 and lost only 1, scoring more than 2 goals a game on those trips. Monaco have been winning without playing well. They beat PSG 2-1 and Marseille 2-0, but they created very little in their last four games. Lens made more than double the chances over the same stretch. That gap tends to show up in the end. Monaco are short of bodies too. They are missing five players in Coulibaly, Fati, Idumbo, Soubeir and Teze, with Balogun and Minamino both doubtful, so their attack is thinner than usual. These two rarely play out quiet games. The last 20 meetings have averaged more than 3 goals, and recent scores read 3-2, 1-4, 0-4, 1-1 and 3-2. Open, stretched games suit the side making more chances. A 1-2 to Lens is the likely finish, and Lens do not even need to win for this one to land. The catch is Monaco's 8 wins from their last 14 games and a run of four without a loss. Lens have had only five days since their last game, and that came three days after an away trip to Prague. Lens are still the side we want.